LED Guages - Page 2 - Body - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

HamSpiced · 05-18-2003, 02:32 AM

sinc ei mastered the LED i will do the dash led mod in my Iroc as soon as i get the time and ambition.

HamSpiced · 05-18-2003, 02:38 AM

you can definatly go quad. get four leds, soder them together and use Ohms law to find the resistance then shove it in there.

Odyssey · 05-18-2003, 03:56 PM

Nope.... THIS is mastering the LEDs

My dash...

Paul Riccioli Jr · 05-18-2003, 09:56 PM

Odyssey are those the stock gauge faces or aftermarket overlays??

nikh23 · 05-19-2003, 12:20 AM

sorry guys tomorrow definitely, i was all caught up in unpacking from school and getting my car prepared to fail inspection another time. as soon as i go to inspection i'll work on the gauges and get som enew pics of my car as well. i understand that the DIY verseion might be brighter but hey, for the amount of time and money i plan on spending on this project i definitely will not complain.

Odyssey · 05-19-2003, 01:40 AM

Paul, those are stock guages with blue backlighting. But they do have the silver overlays from MacEwen so they can look better during the day too.

Paul Riccioli Jr · 05-19-2003, 05:50 PM

I saw earlier in this post someone referred to these. I haven't read the tech article in a while, but can someone explain to me what they are and how they are used in the DIY lights?
Thanks

1bad91Z · 05-20-2003, 09:26 AM

Is there a tech article for LED instrument cluster?

nikh23 · 05-20-2003, 10:29 AM

yea there is a tech article in the tech article section on the homepage of the boards. OK guys, white faced gauges and red LED's are in and it looks killer :hail: . Can't really tell what the lights look like cuz its still light out heh, but tonight definitely expect to see a bunch of pictures of my setup.

bigals87z28 · 05-20-2003, 11:02 AM

DAM YOU NIK!!! ill talk to you on aim later... post pics asap brotha!! did you color the needles?

Paul Riccioli Jr · 05-20-2003, 04:25 PM

Definately get us some pics. I can't wait. This will help me decide between red or blue.
Thanks.

Zrated83 · 05-20-2003, 06:13 PM

cant wait!

Mike

omnipotentgoku · 05-20-2003, 07:36 PM

Im in the market for new gauges anyway..

nikh23 · 05-21-2003, 12:17 AM

alright so here's the deal, my white faced gauges and red LED lights are in, but i was riding with my local first aid squad tonight and too many people were doing assanine thing so i never got a chacne to take pictures. The plastic lens and bezel covers and all that are still off so i'll take pictures of that, and then at night post pictures of what it looks like. Overall it looks ok, seems a little blotchy but not bad overall with the white faced gauges. I'll post pics tomorrow, sorry for the delay!

Paul Riccioli Jr · 05-22-2003, 09:31 AM

Hey how many bulbs are there in the HVAC controls? I want to get the LED's for those too when I order mine. I'm having trouble finding them though. I would like to get some 10,000 MCD blue ones if I can. Does anyone know if 1 per socket will be enough with this intensity or should I still go with 2? Also what's the viewing angle on these? I can't find it anywhere. Would I be better off using a lower MCD with a higher viewing angle if I use 2 per socket?

Also still waiting to see those red ones just in case I want to change my mind.

Paul Riccioli Jr · 05-23-2003, 09:29 AM

Well I can't find em anywhere. I found some that are rated at 5,000-6,500 but with only a viewing angle of 15*. Do you guys think this will work if I use 2-4 per socket?

Also any luck with getting us some pics Nik?

nikh23 · 05-23-2003, 01:09 PM

i personally dont have a digi cam, and my friends can't seem to find their's, figures when you need it most right. If i don't get them this weekend i'll just take them off of a regular camera and have the pictures developed. And also due to the rain and my top being busted my car's been under the covers so water doesn't leak in which is also putting a damper on my projects

Paul Riccioli Jr · 05-23-2003, 01:38 PM

Yeah the rain sucks big time. Where is Caldwell in relation to central Jersey (near Rutgers)?

Also I may have found a source for 10,000mcd blue LED's. I'll keep you guys posted.

paulo57509 · 05-23-2003, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Paul Riccioli Jr

::snip::

Also I may have found a source for 10,000mcd blue LED's. I'll keep you guys posted.

Post please!

nikh23 · 05-23-2003, 03:28 PM

well i got pictures of my white faced gauges and lights during the day. I'll get the pictures at night to see what they look like in the dark and i'll post them all at once

Paul Riccioli Jr · 05-24-2003, 03:12 PM

Ok I just used the Buy Now option from one of this guy's auctions. He has the LED's that some of us need. Follow this link to one of his auctions and you can find his contact info.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ory=26207&rd=1

nikh23 · 05-25-2003, 04:22 PM

alright well here are some pics, first start off with my car, i added the red IROC decals since the previous owner never put them back on after he repainted the car. I also added clear side markers, and new front turn signals. The picture was taken at the body shop that I'm workin at this summer, and please excuse how dirty she is, its been raining for like a week straight

Here's the LED lights and white faced gauges during the day with the bezel not on yet

Here's the white faced gauges with the bezel on and lights off

and lastly here's the lights with the bezel on at night, this pic is really crappy, i'm not sure how to take the picture properly.
anybody got any ideas on how to take it so that it comes up clearer? It's also a lot brighter in person than in the pic, but not as bright as i would like it to be. However for the amount of work that was put in it's not bad at all. I also plan on painting the back of the bezel red so that it reflects the color a little better.

dsaint1347 · 05-25-2003, 04:35 PM

I see some promise there, those red lights would match my car.

paulo57509 · 05-25-2003, 07:00 PM

Here's what blue LED's look like. These are not the plug-n-play 194 replacements. These are home made with 10,000 mcd LED's. I did this a few months ago.

The 194 replacements from superbrightleds.com aren't as bright; I'm running these in the gauges in the pillar pod because my source for the 10,000 mcd LED's isn't carring them anymore.

(My first picture posting...don't know if this will work or not).

http://www.funtigo.com/go?i=i591290_88093.jpg

FastElectrics · 05-25-2003, 07:34 PM

here is the picture paulo57509 was trying to post..
nikh23 how bright are the red ones V.S. the original bulbs?
to bad they didn't come out as bright as you had hoped.. I wonder if the blue would be brighter..

Paul Riccioli Jr · 05-25-2003, 08:24 PM

Paulo it's hard to tell how bright your lights are in the pic. Are they a little dim? Would you suggest I put 2 of the 10,000 mcd bulbs per socket?
Also does anyone know how many bulbs there are for the HVAC controls?

Momar · 05-26-2003, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 89blackGTA
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...gi?product=CAR

Thats where I got mine. Looks good to.

Brian

Hey man I have an 85, but converted to an 89 140 cluster. I was wondering as far as your hvac controls they are backlit correct? Do you happen to know what year they became backlit instead of having a light shine down on them like mine?

Ben

paulo57509 · 05-26-2003, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Paul Riccioli Jr
Paulo it's hard to tell how bright your lights are in the pic. Are they a little dim? Would you suggest I put 2 of the 10,000 mcd bulbs per socket?
Also does anyone know how many bulbs there are for the HVAC controls?

FastElectrics: Thanks for the assist. :hail:

Paul Riccioli Jr: It's not really that dim. The gauges are easily readable at night. There is one bulb that illuminates the heater controls.

I read someplace that blue is the absolute worst color for illuminating things indirectly (that's why "Cool Blue" headlights are so feeble at lighting the road). It might be a different story if your gauges are back-lit. If I had to do it over, I'd try two blue 10,000 mcd LED's. If red was available in that intensity, I'd go with red.

One thing to keep in mind when shopping LED's. When LED's are manufactured, they are sorted by brightness. One part number can have a range of intensities. If you look at the data sheet for the 10,000 mcd LED's that I used, they range in brightness from a minimum of 4,650 mcd to a maximum of 10,000 mcd. As the LED's come off the assembly line, they are tested and sorted into bins depending upon intensities. Some people may advertise 10,000 mcd, but it really depends on which "bin" the LED's were sorted into and which bins they're picking from.

I'm sure I'll tire of the blue color e